Ocean of Noise Photography

This past summer I had the privilege of going to Slave Lake post-fire to cover the Royal Tour stop. I say this was a privilege because the opportunity was huge and I got to rub elbows with international media -including official tour media – but also because I was the only local photographer covering the event from a city that spent countless hours and money on aiding the people of Slave Lake as they dealt with the crisis. Location wise we aren’t much different. Fort McMurray has summers where the fires are close, but never could anyone imagine a large portion of the town disappearing so quickly.

My day started at 4:30 due to the 5 hour drive to get there and I was unsure what to expect when we got there. The city was full of excitement when we arrived. I think that, understandably, the entire city whether or not they liked the Royal Family was touched by the fact that the Duke and Duchess took time out of their only vacation day to come visit them. They are happy that they have survived despite the loss and they hollered and cheered for local celebrities who had gone above and beyond during the fires. There were no speeches or grand gestures. The Duke and Duchess simply spent time with families and then came out and shook hands with the crowd before heading on their way. I don’t want to talk much about them here, but I can say that Kate is as beautiful in real life as she is in photos and their interactions with one another are genuine and not a grand act like so many people assume it must be.

What I do want to talk about is this. When everything was done and the crowds had dispersed I took the time to go through the devastation. It was a couple of months after the crisis and yards were still full of burned debris and vehicles with the tires literally melted off the rims. I’ll never understand how one house can be completely destroyed and their neighbour be left standing, or how one item can still be recognizable out of the mass of debris piled up. There were signs all over as well. One below is a missing dog who ran away during the fire. Another was a heartbreaking note to a neighbour in a duplex, questioning if the other half had survived and if they were fine to call them. I think photos, in this case, speak louder than words.